The Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office, along with Okeechobee City Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint on Thursday, July 24, 2014. The checkpoint will be set up on Highway 441 South, Okeechobee, Florida.

DUI checkpoints are a proven enforcement tool effective in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol involved crashes. Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of (20) percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough.

Deputies will be contacting drivers passing through the checkpoint and looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment. Deputies will also check drivers for proper licensing and will strive to delay motorists only momentarily. Drivers caught driving impaired can expect jail, license suspension, and insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes and other expenses that can exceed $10,000.

If you're going to drink...Designate a driverCall a cabStay homeCall a friend or family memberDUI Takes Its Toll...

A decision by the Supreme Court requires Law Enforcement to publicize DUI checkpoints. While it is widely argued that DUI Roadblocks / Sobriety Checkpoints are violations of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution (being stopped without probable cause or a search warrant), they are in fact legal in the United States and specifically in Florida ((483 So.2d 433 (Fla. 1985). Because of this, Law enforcement agencies in the state of Florida established guidelines to notify the public that a sobriety checkpoint will be conducted in specific locations at certain times.Their legality was established by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz (1990). While the Supreme Court acknowledged that DUI Roadblocks infringe on a constitutional right, Chief Justice Rehnquist argued that the state interest in reducing Driving Under the Influence outweighed the infringement, and that Sobriety Checkpoints were in fact effective and necessary. Upon notifying the public of a sobriety check point location and time, this helps to fulfill the obligation "of being stopped without probable cause or having a search warrant". This notification is usually completed by means of advertisement to a local newspaper, however can also be accomplished by means of a radio broadcast or internet social media correspondence such as Facebook.Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office does not make the laws, we just enforce them